The BAL-27 assault rifle was added to Warzone and MW3 on May 1, but just hours after it was introduced, it received a significant nerf that decreased its damage across the board.
The BAL-27 is the big weapon addition in Season 3 Reloaded, and will be instantly recognizable to those who played Advanced Warfare. When guns are added to Warzone and MW3, they generally shoot straight to the top of the meta, but that wasn’t the case for the BAL-27, and we now know why.
Just hours after it was added the game, the BAL-27 was nerfed by 25%, as first discovered by dantheflipman on Reddit. I’ve since gone and checked myself and can confirm the new damage numbers.
The assault rifle’s damage has been slashed, with output to the head, upper body, lower body, and upper legs all taking a big knock. If you want to compare the numbers, we’ve made a table below to show the effects of the nerf.
| Damage before nerf | Damage after nerf | |
| Head | 37 | 30 |
| Upper Body | 37 | 30 |
| Lower Body | 34 | 28 |
| Upper Legs | 34 | 28 |
As you can see, the nerf is significant, instantly making the gun feel less powerful. This sentiment was shared by the community, with one Warzone player saying that they noticed “it felt so bad after [they] took a break and came back.”
“It’s definitely not worth using,” wrote GilderonPaladin. “The recoil pattern made it iffy for me even before the nerf. I’m glad I already unlocked all the unique camos on it. Never using it again.”
As a big fan of Advanced Warfare (really, I could write an essay about how good it is,) I’m gutted to see the BAL-27 become unusable almost instantly, as it just doesn’t compete in the current meta. It’s definitely interesting to see the development team nerf a new gun so quickly, as it’s nothing like anything we’ve ever really seen before.
Is it possible that it went live with the wrong damage stats? Or did they just make a quick call to reign it in? It seems we’ll never really know, but I’m definitely sad it’s happened.
